


In and Out of Frame

by wewillalwaysenduphere



Category: Alex Rider (TV 2020), Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz
Genre: Background BDSM, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Everyone's an Actor, Humor, M/M, Marvel Himbo Alex, Movie Star AU, Pining, Resolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:21:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26067907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wewillalwaysenduphere/pseuds/wewillalwaysenduphere
Summary: Yassen Gregorovich is a critically acclaimed, Academy Award winning actor.Alex Rider makes rom coms and action movies which often mistake special effects for plot.Alex wants to get into serious acting. Yassen accepts him as his co-star for a political drama.Their chemistry on-screen is unparalleled. Their relationship off-screen is even more interesting.
Relationships: Yassen Gregorovich/Alex Rider
Comments: 79
Kudos: 132





	1. The Casting

**Author's Note:**

> What it says on the tin. Some light-hearted fun, mostly. ;)

„Yassen Gregorovich won his first Academy Award for his leading role in the drama “Divines”, written and produced by Julia Taylor, which created an amazing world that brought together twenty-first century technology and the Hellenistic pantheon. Gregorovich’s heart-wrenching portrayal of a man losing his humanity while slowly becoming one with the god who had chosen him as his earthly avatar was a hit with critics and the box office alike.”

Alex sighed and tried to snatch the magazine out of Tom’s hands.

“Stop it. I’m not even considering it.”

Tom took a few steps back.

“This is your chance, Alex! Be more than just another muscular Marvel himbo! Become a serious actor!”

Alex snorted.

“Compared to Yassen Gregorovich’s acting chops I _am_ a Marvel himbo.”

Tom ignored him and continued reading.

“His second Oscar was for the movie “Good Wives Always Know”, which details his rise to power in the business world juxtaposed with the slow crumbling of his marriage and family life. His on-screen partner, Gabriella Whitford, was awarded the Oscar for best female lead as the titular good wife. The two have even been rumored to be dating for a while, but Gregorovich is notoriously tight-lipped about his private life and Whitford never commented on the issue, although her later marriage to Natsuko Yoshida effectively disproved the rumors.”

Tom put the magazine down and stared at Alex.

“You said you wanted to try something new. No more movies that rely on special effects instead of plot. No more romantic leads or action heroes.”

Alex sighed. Again.

He knew what he had said. He also knew that Yassen Gregorovich was very picky with the scripts he accepted, and only made a movie every two or three years. He needed a younger male co-star for this one, and Alex highly doubted that a director would see him as anywhere near good enough to share a screen with Yassen fucking Gregorovich.

“It’s unlikely they’ll consider me for the role.”

Tom shrugged.

“What’s the saying? You miss a hundred percent of the shots you don’t take?”

It was a reasonable argument. And besides – if Alex failed, nothing would happen. Actors got turned down for movie roles all the time. He made good money with the movies he was currently making. He had nothing to lose. But if it worked, this could be his entry into a whole other level of acting. With a movie under his belt where he held his own against Yassen Gregorovich, offers for other more serious scripts would start coming in.

Besides – Alex was only twenty-three and already famous. He’d played a minor hero in a few of the Marvel movies, was popular as a lead in action movies and romantic comedies and had a solid fanbase. Mostly young people, women who found him attractive and men who liked to watch him blow up things and flirt with hot actresses.

“I can see you’re changing your mind,” Tom sing-songed teasingly.

Alex shrugged.

“I mean. I’ve got nothing to lose, right?”

Tom gave him a grin so wide the corners of his mouth would have met at the back of his head if his ears hadn’t been in the way.

“That’s what I wanted to hear!”

Alex called up his manager, Jack Starbright, and had her arrange everything. Alex had made a name for himself young, he’d started acting just months after his uncle died. Acting was a Rider tradition, and his parents had been Hollywood’s sweethearts until they’d died in a car crash just months after Alex’s birth. Ian had raised him instead, but unlike his older brother John, Ian was never as invested in acting – or as good as John. Alex had been taking lessons, but Ian hadn’t pushed him towards roles as a child, and Alex had appreciated that. With Ian gone, there had been no one to turn to, so Alex had turned to the world at large. His therapist had said something about substituting the love of family for the love of millions of strangers, so Alex had changed therapists. The guy he had now prescribed him sleeping pills when he needed them and was a lot less hassle in general.

Now, at twenty-three, Alex was well-known in his own right. His mother and father did win an Oscar each, his mother also had two Tonys from her time on Broadway, and his father had won an Emmy starring in a show that Alex had never been able to sit through because it was so horribly outdated. Waiting to audition had him feeling like he was very young again. Often, studios came to him these days. He had a running contract with Marvel. He was sought-after.

Alex recognized the faces around him – all of them character actors, known for very different stuff than he was. They looked at him in turn, sizing him up, an arrogance in their eyes that Alex didn’t like at all. Luckily, this wasn’t like it had been when he started out. No standing in line with dozens of other people. Instead, they were in an air-conditioned room, only a few of them at a time, with snacks and drinks neatly arranged. Alex was a bit early, just in case. He’d prepared both a monologue and a dialogue which he assumed would not happen with Yassen Gregorovich, but a stand in.

When he was asked to enter the room, he was surprised to see Gregorovich there. Gabriella Whitford, who Gregorovich had starred with in _Good Wives Always Know_ , would be directing. Apart from them, there was only one other person in the room: The producer, an older man looking profoundly grey and boring. He introduced himself as Alan Blunt and fell quiet afterwards.

It was Gabriella who gave Alex a dazzling smile that almost blinded him and asked him to introduce himself.

It was, in Alex’s opinion, a little embarrassing. He felt like someone trying to make his CV fit the job, except he used to be a janitor and was trying to apply for a job as an engineer. Yes, he was a well-known actor. No, he’d never made a movie that had any deeper meaning beyond “Love finds a way” and “Screen adaptions of comics are popular right now and we want to make a quick buck”.

The two people opposite him, both with accolades and Academy Awards to their name, knew very well what he was doing.

Yassen Gregorovich hadn’t spoken a word so far. He seemed mostly uninterested and blended into the background. Blunt had at least said his name. Gabriella was charming and beautiful and frankly breathtaking, and Alex thought that if he’d been straight, he really would have been in hot water.

“Thank you for your introduction, Alex. We sent out two scenes to everyone interested, would you please do the monologue for us?”

Alex nodded and tried to smile back. Both their teeth were perfectly straight and white, but her smile could have put a spotlight to shame, while Alex himself felt like he had the look of a teenager trying to ask the head cheerleader to prom.

It was easy to focus on the words he knew by heart instead. The scene had spoken to him, unrepressed anger and fury at the world, something he didn’t need much acting to tap into. The younger lead of this movie was on his own, studying political science and idealistic. He was then discovered by someone who’d worked in politics for decades, was disillusioned with the process, and had become bitter and hopeless. Alex’s character would share his youthful idealism, Gregorovich’s character would allow him entry into spheres he never could have reached without him. A classic mentor story, but the writing was excellent and the acting would be, too. Together, they would run a campaign and get someone elected president. A spicy political drama with character focus. Oscar bait, in Alex’s opinion.

When he finished, Gabriella’s smile had dimmed somewhat, but seemed more genuine. Yassen Gregorovich was looking at him in earnest for the first time since he set foot in the room. Suddenly, the idea of him fading into the background seemed impossible. It was like someone had flipped a switch. The quiet, intense focus the man’s acting was known for was now focused on Alex, those bright blue eyes seemed to come to a conclusion and he got up, walked straight up to Alex, and looked at him with unparalleled disdain, as if Alex was a speck of dirt on his meticulously ironed, eye-wateringly expensive clothing.

“And who are you?”

Alex needed a moment. He’d thought there would be feedback, or someone else to read the second scene with him. Gregorovich hadn’t so much as introduced himself, and now he was jumping right into the scene. Alex decided to go with it. Gregorovich deciding to act out the scene with him had to mean he’d cleared the first hurdle.

“I – I’m just an intern.”

Shy, deferential. Their first meeting. Alex having stayed late in the campaign office, Yassen being the manager.

“Which means you could have been gone five hours ago. What are you still doing here?”

Alex flickers his eyes to the side for a moment before focusing on Gregorovich again. His stare has Alex pinned immediately, like an insect under a microscope. Gregorovich is a few inches shorter than him, Alex realizes. His attitude, his presence makes him seem larger than Alex, though, larger than life.

“The work wasn’t done.”

Gregorovich laughed, a short, bitter thing, it felt a bit like a slap to Alex, right to his face. It was intense to watch him on screen, it was almost unbearable to stand only a few feet away from him in person.

“The work’s never done. That attitude won’t get you anywhere, except a burnout treatment. Go home.”

Cold, detached, uncaring, turning around to walk back to his seat. Alex springs into motion. He reaches out before thinking about it, his hand clasping Gregorovich’s shoulder.

“No! Wait a moment. I’ve found something. I know I’m not in oppo research and I know this isn’t my area of expertise at all but…a friend of mine interned for Conway once, and there was this internal upheaval about sexual assault –“

Alex puts all his desperation into his character’s lines. Seeing Gregorovich act up close had changed his whole outlook. The man was praised for his craft not because he’d won his awards or made billions – but because he was simply the best actor Alex had ever met. And he’d met a lot of them through the years. He needed this role. He would cut himself open and bleed all over the floor for this role. He’d crawl on all fours if it made Gregorovich give him this role.

Gregorovich turned back then. His gaze was heavy, intense, searching for something in Alex’s eyes he apparently found. Suddenly, there was the smallest of smiles blooming on his face, but it felt like a resounding success to Alex. Like a weight being taken of his shoulders. He wasn’t sure who was more relieved in that moment: Alex or the character he was supposed to be playing.

“No, oppo research is not what you should be doing,” Gregorovich replied, voice still icy. But then, just a fraction less frosty. “Tell me what you found.”

Gregorovich walked back to his seat and sat down, exchanging one long look with Whitford. Some unseen understanding passed between them, and then Gregorovich gave Alex a nod.

“You have the role. We’ll be sending you the full script and the contracts to your manager.”

Alex wanted to say something. Had the stupid, pointless, nonsensical urge to compliment Gregorovich on his acting. As if the man didn’t know he was amazing.

Instead, he thanked them. Went back to his spacious home and started watching all of Gregorovich’s movies. For educational purposes, he told himself, getting comfortable on his expensive couch in the expensively furnished living room. When he came to _Good Wives Always Know_ , he paused guiltily during the sex scene of Whitford and Gregorovich. It was no gentle lovemaking. It was a hate fuck between two people knowing they were drifting apart. It was tastefully lit and Gregorovich’s back muscles looked amazing as he was driving into Whitford in harsh, merciless trusts. Alex had shot countless similar scenes in his life. He knew there was nothing sexy about a sex scene in front of dozens of people. All of it was fake.

The rational knowledge of that didn’t stop him from getting hard while watching it. He’d known for a while now that he was gay. Had filmed scenes with some of Hollywood’s hottest actresses, spent time between soft thighs and looking at perfect tits and it had never had any effect on him. Now, he couldn’t help but imagine himself in Whitford’s position. Punched out little gasps, her perfectly manicured nails drawing sharp white lines over Gregorovich’s skin. The scene was only about two minutes long. It was a serious movie after all, not porn. Alex opened his trousers and shoved his hand inside, went back to the beginning of it and watched again. Them angrily ripping each other’s clothes off, Gregorovich almost slamming her into a wall, the angry way she retaliated by pushing her hand into his trousers, making his knees buckle. Alex was gripping himself tightly, getting himself off quick and harsh, just like they did each other in the scene.

He groaned in frustration when he had to rewind again. Gregorovich’s perfectly shaped abs, his strong arms, his slender dancer’s body…different from Alex, who was broader and more muscular. A lot more appealing, in Alex’s opinion. He’d known Gregorovich was hot, but he’d never found him as hot as he did now, after meeting the man, after a mere minute of acting with him. He paused at the moment when Whitford ripped open Gregorovich’s shirt, drinking in the wild look of lust and abandon in his face, wondering how much more intense seeing that must have been in person. He wanted to push Gregorovich back onto that bed, kiss his lips until they were swollen and get fucked so good he’d feel it days later.

Alex pressed play again and quickened his strokes, he came watching the shot of Gregorovich fucking into Whitford, the muscles on his back moving, his tight ass on display. His eyes were closed, and his breath was still coming quickly.

But the delicious afterglow lasted only seconds. Then the scene changed, and panting heavily, Alex realized he’d messed up his boxers, that he’d just masturbated to his new co-star, and that the shoot would be one long test of his will.

There was only one coherent thought in his mind: _Fuck._

* * *

When the script came, another problem presented itself: There was a very clear tension between the two main chars. Nothing explicit, but the kind of stuff that would draw attention and would lead to spicy fanfic and fanart on tumblr and the like. Alex was mostly amused by it. In one of his action movies, people had shipped him with his male co-star, and the fanfiction had been…interesting. Not that he’d ever let on he knew about it.

But he had decided to stay closeted for now, since his audience very much believed him to be straight, and he may lose parts of his fanbase should he come out. With a script like this, there might be questions during the press tour.

When he spoke about it with Jack, she shrugged.

“Alex, it’s your decision. You know I’m happy to represent you either way. But if this is too risky, better back out now. We can say you weren’t happy with the contract, no one will ever know the truth.”

The words made Alex’s mouth taste bitter. No one knew. He could take this secret to his grave. But maybe he didn’t have to. Gabriella Whitford herself had been believed to be straight, and then simply married Natsuko Yoshida, without coming out before. The pair had been living together for years now, and Whitford was still a famous actress, had even made the jump to directing. There had been plenty articles praising her for how brave she was and the like. It wasn’t chic to be homophobic anymore. But that didn’t change that it might very well impact the offers he got in the future. However – the movie was just subtext. Nothing definitive. It was just acting. (Alex avoided thinking about his guilty masturbation session starring Gregorovich.)

“No,” Alex replied. “I want to make the movie. Let’s just see how the press tour goes. I want to do this.”

Jack nodded.

“Then I’ll forward the contracts to our lawyers and call you back to sign.”

Alex smiled.

“Thanks.”

He wanted to do this movie. He wanted his name next to Gregorovich on a poster. He wanted his name to be mentioned in the same sentence as Yassen Gregorovich’s. He wanted his career to take a new direction. He wanted the movie to be a resounding success.

And Alex wouldn’t let Yassen Gregorovich and his chiseled lips distract him from his goals. 


	2. The Shoot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 is here!  
> Have fun everybody :)

By the time Alex arrived on set, Gregorovich had been shooting for almost two weeks. Although Alex’s character was #2 on the call sheet, Gregorovich had a lot more scenes – he was carrying the whole movie – and his work ethic was legendary.

Alex watched Gregorovich during a scene in which his character, Charles Gill, spoke to the presidential candidate they would be working for, and felt a pit opening up in his stomach. God, why had he thought he could hold his own against the man? He would crash and burn, and the tabloids and critics would tear him apart. Alex was still fretting by the time the scene was over and Gregorovich was approaching him. Alex forced himself to straighten up and extend his hand to the man.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Gregorovich.”

Well, they had met before, but Gregorovich hadn’t really talked to him outside their scene. Now, the man gave Alex a smile. It made Alex want to clear his throat and look away. After the casting (and his spontaneous masturbation session to one of Gregorovich’s old movies) he was unfortunately aware of just how attractive the man was. It made things difficult.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Alex. Please, call me Yassen. We’ll be spending a lot of time together, there’s no need for formalities.”

Alex was a little surprised – Gregorovich, no _, Yassen_ – had a reputation for being distant and cool. Not a diva or outright difficult, but this greeting was one Alex hadn’t expected. He was grateful for it though and shook the man’s extended hand gladly.

“Alright, Yassen.”

“Good. Our first scene together is tomorrow. Make sure you get a good night’s sleep, I’m quite demanding when it comes to my scene partners.”

Yassen’s smile now was somewhere between soothing and predatory. It reminded Alex of what was at stake.

“Yes, of course. I’m excited to get started.”

Yassen clapped his shoulder and then made his way to wherever he had originally intended to go. Alex spent the rest of the day getting to know the actress who would be playing their client and presidential candidate and watched Gabriella direct for a while. Her and Yassen seemed to be able to communicate solely through eye contact and raised eyebrows, and Alex could see why there used to be rumors about them being a couple.

He does go to bed early – shooting days run long, and he’s happy about his caution the next day. Yassen, despite delivering what Alex would consider perfect work in every single take, is rarely satisfied with himself. He demands reshoots before Gabriella can, and Alex is astonished to realize that Yassen can indeed do better, even when Alex would have said that he was doing a perfectly good job and didn’t even need to do the scene again.

This also had the beneficial effect that Alex felt egged on by Yassen’s amazing work. They did their scenes over and over, and Alex really got into his character – Matthew “Matt” Anderson - and felt like he improved a lot. Yassen did give him pointers sometimes, to remember his character’s position as intern was strengthened by the knowledge he had to offer, or that his underlying idealism was at war with his open ambition. Things that weren’t outright stated in every line, but that lead to Alex’s facial expressions becoming more complex, using micro-expressions that he never needed when he was doing action movies or rom coms. Now, when he watched dailies in the evening with Yassen, he was amazed by how deeply conflicted his character looked sometimes, and how clear it was he was doubting himself despite his constant reassurances towards Yassen that he wanted this and wouldn’t back out, even if there was blowback, even if his friend who had given him the intel about Conway’s sexual assault scandal would suffer from it. Alex’s character was young and rough around the edges compared to Yassen’s smoother, more sophisticated character who felt at home in the cut-throat world of politics and hadn’t yet encountered a situation he couldn’t spin to his own advantage or avoid by pivoting to other topics.

They worked wonderfully because of their contrasts, younger and older, idealistic and jaded, still learning and seasoned pro. During the first arc of the movie, they got to know each other, started working together, and “Matt” became “Charles’s” personal assistant, always by his side, his opinion appreciated and presence valued. They were making good progress in the campaign, especially with that ace of sexual assault in the back pocket, a card Yassen’s character wanted to play closer to the general election. The second arc introduced more conflict when the opposition found out they knew. They didn’t have anything on their candidate – she was almost too perfect, squeaky clean and beloved by the people and all that jazz – so they tried to harm their campaign by targeting Yassen.

It was a scene that Alex had been looking forward to, but also the one that had made him hesitant to accept the script. He wanted to stay closeted, and the movie did not feature an outright relationship between his and Yassen’s character, but there was still enough tension.

By this point, Alex and Yassen had been working together for a few weeks and knew how to play off each other. They were in Yassen’s office, and he was pacing the length of it after receiving a call from someone working for their opponent.

“They’re trying to blackmail us,” Yassen said, his voice flat and unemotional.

Alex bit his lip, letting his character’s nervousness bleed through.

“They don’t have anything on her – she’s clean.”

Yassen turned around, pacing away from Alex. His face was tight and drawn. Since he looked younger than his forty-two years, the make-up crew added some wrinkles to his face and grey to his temples every morning. Right now, deep in thought and brow creased, he looked a full then years older. Alex was impressed by both Yassen’s abilities as an actor and the make-up teams’ skills.

“No,” Yassen admitted, turning around, pacing back briskly until he came to stand in front of Alex.

“They have something on me. Or so they say.”

Alex took a deep breath, clenching his hands into fists.

“What is it?”

Their eyes met, and Alex swallowed when Yassen stared at him for almost twenty seconds without blinking. But he didn’t look away. Tension was mounting, and then something gave.

Yassen sighed. His posture became less threatening, a little defeated almost. It made Alex want to reach out and comfort him.

“They say if we come forward with the assault scandal concerning Conway, they’ll release allegations against me.”

Alex blinked. Then he almost reached out as if to – comfort Yassen? For what? If what they said was true – if he’d ever…Alex licked his lips and refused to think it.

“Is it true? Did you?”

Yassen shook his head.

“No.”

Alex wanted to believe him, he really did. But at the same time, this is exactly what Conway would say, and with him, they knew for sure.

“So then…what do they have?”

Yassen suddenly whirled around, angry in a way Alex hadn’t seen him yet. He had been perfectly composed and calm a moment earlier, but now he was furious. (God, he was a brilliant actor.)

He stalked towards Alex, and despite their size differences, Alex staggered back into the wall.

“You think it’s true what they say? They’re our opposition and they make some half-assed claim to keep us from bringing to light their candidate’s past crimes and you think they’re telling the truth?”

Alex shrunk back against the wall, his voice not quite steady, but his character was trying his best.

“I have been wondering why we didn’t use it outright. I get that it makes sense to use it later on, but if it comes out we knew and waited to use it for maximum political gain this will reflect negatively on us too-“

“Ooh, so you think I kept it to myself because I have something to hide, too? Because I’m the kind of man Conway is?”

Yassen’s blue eyes were so cold they seemed to burn Alex. His tone was crushing. Acting cowed was easy because there was little acting to be done. Yassen looked terrifying.

“That’s not what I said.”

Yassen’s glare was withering.

“It’s what you implied.”

Alex couldn’t really deny that one. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking around the room awkwardly. The wall was still against his back, and Yassen in front of him. There was no escape. The realization dawned in his eyes, and he focused back on Yassen.

“Then let’s unpack this. Who is their source? How long ago was it?”

Yassen rolled his eyes but played ball.

“About five years ago. They say she’s younger than me.”

Alex hoped he wouldn’t trigger another burst of anger, but he had to ask –

“And did you… _sleep_ with her?” The skepticism in Alex’s voice was impossible to miss.

Yassen shook his head.

“They didn’t give a name, but I know I didn’t. They’re making it up.”

That made Alex blink in surprise.

“How could you know?”

Yassen’s face did something complicated. His expression was flickering between disbelief that Alex would accuse him of this, disappointment in a man he had started to consider his friend, embarrassment for something Alex didn’t yet know, and finally determination.

“Because they said it’s a woman. I’ve never slept with a woman in my life, much less tried to rape one.”

Yassen sounded almost sheepish, and the moment had such a delicate awkwardness to it Alex couldn’t help but be amazed by the man’s acting once more. It made it easier for him to react in kind.

“Wait – you’re…?”

Yassen rolled his eyes in response and gave a court nod.

“Gay? Yes.”

Alex suppressed the urge to lick his lips. God, it were amazing if Yassen were gay, and not just his character. The things he’d let Yassen do to him – but there was no time for those thoughts now. (Maybe later, at night.)

“Oh.”

His character was supposed to be slack-jawed, not quite processing. Yassen filled the silence with an explanation.

“It doesn’t impact my ability to do this job, and I keep my private and public life separate. I would appreciate it if you could keep this to yourself.”

Alex nodded.

“Of course, Charles, I won’t tell anyone.”

They stared at each other for a moment, and Alex couldn’t believe the kind of tension building up just from that. This was one of those moments that could have led to more but would pass unused. He almost regretted it.

“Cut!”

Gabriella’s voice cut through the tension, and Alex exhaled in relief. Yassen’s posture changed from stressed, pressured and forced to reveal something he had meant to keep secret to his natural relaxed position.

“Good job,” Gabriella called, and Yassen gave a small nod.

“You really did well, Alex.”

Alex swallowed.

“Thank you.”

It was awkward to have these moments with Yassen, even if they were in character, knowing how attracted he was to the man. But he had to separate these things in his mind, had to remind himself that Yassen was not Charles and he was not Matt.

It worked, most of the time. But then there were scenes like this, and Alex felt rattled. A few days later, there was a scene that made it even worse.

Alex’s character, Matt, went to check on Charles at his home and would find the man drunk and contemplating his life and success so far. He had read the script a dozen times and knew it would be an emotionally demanding scene, more so because of his own, complicated feelings for Yassen. He still wasn’t prepared for it, though.

The house that he entered was clearly marked by the signs of wealth, pictures of Yassen’s character shaking hands with Senators and Secretaries, and Alex slowly made his way upstairs. Yassen was sitting in a barely lit room in an armchair, holding a tumbler of expensive whiskey.

“Hello Matt.”

His smile was lop-sided, his gaze soft and a bit hazy. Alex knew for a fact that Yassen was perfectly sober, but the man could have probably snapped his fingers and made his skin break out in a rash if he needed it for acting purposes.

“Charles – what are you doing?”

It was a stupid question, but while Matt was intelligent when it came to politics, he wasn’t the best when it came to people.

“Driiin-kiiing,” Yassen replied, drawing the syllables out as if he had to explain the concept to Matt.

“I know – I mean…why didn’t you come in today?”

Yassen shrugged carelessly, his face almost expressionless except for a faint hint of melancholy.

“If my name gets ruined, I shouldn’t bring down the whole campaign with me.”

Alex stepped closer, sitting down in another armchair just a few feet away.

“But you didn’t do it! You have the perfect alibi. All you need to do-“

“Is tell the whole world about my sex life. As if I _owe them._ As if it’s any of their fucking business.”

Yassen’s voice was dripping with disdain, his eyes were still hooded, but there was an old pain in them. Alex understood it so well. He had made his own decisions about coming out or not and spent so much time thinking about it and what Yassen just said summoned his own feelings up perfectly.

“I’ve been doing this job for decades. I’ve been doing it very well. No one ever cared about me being in a relationship or having children before. Some commented, sure, but I work a lot and that explains it all. If I come out, the newspapers will be all over it. “We should have known years ago,” they’ll say, acting as if I’m not married or don’t have kids because I’m gay. Not because of the real reason – which is that I decided against it. That I chose money and power.”

Yassen’s voice was full of righteous anger. His character wasn’t a saint by any means, he mentioned even now that he had worked for his own advantages first of all. It was still one of the most emotional scenes in the movie, and the one where his character was the most vulnerable.

“No, they’ll define me through my sexuality. The left is going to try and turn me into some martyr for the cause or someone who has been violently forced into the closet and my whole existence will be analyzed through the lens of me liking dick. My enemies will call me a faggot and that will be enough in their eyes to replace any earnest criticism. I don’t want it, Matt. I don’t owe them shit. I don’t want to do this on their terms, and maybe I don’t ever want to do it.”

Alex nodded.

“I get it,” he said, both as Matt and as himself, before getting up from where he was sitting and walking the few steps to Yassen, holding out his hand.

“Let’s get you to bed, Charles. You need some sleep. We’ll figure it out.”

It was awkward, but it was honest. Yassen downed the rest of the drink before slowly standing up. He stumbled against Alex, and Alex had to wrap an arm around him to guide him. Yassen was leaning heavily on him, and despite the fact that he was smaller than Alex, he wasn’t as light as Alex had expected. Yassen worked out regularly, and his build was very compact.

Yassen was one hot line against Alex’s side, and it made Alex suppress a shiver. Yes, the scene was suggestive. No, nothing would happen. And he shouldn’t have these thoughts about his co-star. (Hypocrite, a part of his brain said, realizing that now after weeks of masturbating to images of the man.)

When they made it to the bedroom, Yassen tried and failed to unbutton his dress shirt. Alex kneeled down in front of the bed where Yassen was sitting and helped him do it. Occasionally, his fingers would graze the soft skin of Yassen’s chest. When he shrugged the shirt off, Alex could see that his chest was almost completely hairless. He had beautiful, smooth skin. Yassen’s eyes were half-lidded, and the soft lighting made him look sinful when he stretched out on the bed.

Alex realized, with a growing sense of horror, that he was getting hard. And that the scene wasn’t over yet.

“Matt?”

Yassen waved him over, and he dutifully got up from where he’d been kneeling. God, he hoped the lighting was bad enough Yassen wouldn’t see anything. He thought of raw meat. Milk that had gone bad. Socks.

It was all in vain when Yassen’s eyes met his, intense and smoldering.

“Thank you. I want to apologize for losing myself at the office when they made the threat. I just wasn’t prepared for any of it.”

Alex shook his head.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal.”

But Yassen struggled upright in the bed, despite being badly coordinated. It meant that his perspective on Alex changed. It meant that Yassen got a perfect view of the bulge in Alex’s trousers, at the sight of him lying shirtless in a bed. Alex wanted to die. If he’d had a heart attack and died at this very moment, he’d thank God and taken his twenty-three years and never complained about anything. Not even hell.

But Yassen (unlike Alex) was a professional. He continued the dialogue without so much as a blink.

“No – it is. I may not be the kind of man Conway is, but I also don’t want to be the kind of man who yells at his friends.”

Alex – as Matt - huffed a small laugh. He wanted to laugh out of character, too. _Friends_. There would be so much fanfiction about this movie, he just knew it.

“Alright. In that case, I accept your apology. And now, go to sleep, Charles.”

Gabriella called “Cut”, the scene was over, and Alex disappeared with a muttered apology before Yassen could say anything. Shit, shit, shit. He’d seriously popped a boner just looking at his co-star in bed.

When Alex got the dailies from the shoot, he watched all angles to make sure nothing was visible – luckily, the lighting had been soft and no camera had focused on his lower half. He was safe.

But Yassen had still seen him. So after a shower and dinner, Alex made his way over to Yassen’s trailer. He knocked, and the man opened up after just a few moments.

“Come in, Alex.”

As if Yassen had expected him. Alex was fairly sure he had. During all his years of shooting sex scenes with beautiful women, this had never happened to him. He’d never made any of his co-stars uncomfortable and he didn’t want to start now. Which meant he had to bite the bullet and apologize, come up with an excuse.

Yassen’s trailer – just like Alex’s own – was big and comfortable. Yassen lead him to a couch and offered him a drink.

“Coke, please.”

Yassen found that amusing but complied without questions. He himself was having a tea.

“Yassen – I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I didn’t mean to. It just – god I know this sounds stupid – just happened.”

Yassen took a sip of his tea and gave a slight nod.

“Alright.”

Alex wasn’t sure he’d heard him right.

“Alright?”

Yassen nodded again.

“Yes. You’re in your early twenties. I remember being that old. I won’t take it personally.”

Alex didn’t know what to say. Somehow, that easy acceptance felt like a slap in the face. As if Yassen didn’t even see him as a sexual being and an adult. As if he was still some teenager. He didn’t want Yassen to perceive him as a pervert or someone predatory, but he also hadn’t expected to be this easily dismissed. He wasn’t some boy anymore.

All of that must have shown on his face, because Yassen gave him a little smile.

“Are you sure it just happened, though?”

Alex’s heart was suddenly in his throat. He wasn’t quite sure if Yassen…was trying to get at anything here. Just a moment ago, he’d hated the feeling of being treated like a child. Now, that Yassen was treating him like an adult, Alex had no idea what to say. He felt like he’d been given whiplash within the last minute.

“I…I mean I didn’t…want to make you uncomfortable…”

Alex stuttered, and Yassen tilted his head slightly. Alex had gotten used to seeing that intensity daily, but usually it was only focused on him while they were acting. Yassen wasn’t staring at him like this, it was Charles staring at Matt. This was different. No lines and character motivations to hide behind, this was just them. And Alex knew that Yassen could see right through him.

“What if you didn’t make me uncomfortable? What if I felt flattered?”

Alex swallowed. Suddenly, his mouth wasn’t working properly anymore.

“I mean – in that case, if you…you know-“

Yassen chuckled.

“You’re very cute, Alex.”

Alex almost pulled a face. But then he reminded himself that being defiant would probably only prove Yassen right. But Yassen didn’t needle him any further.

“Come here,” he demanded, and Alex obeyed easily. He moved towards Yassen on the couch, until they were close enough to kiss. Yassen cupped his face in his hands, his thumbs tracing his cheekbones.

“I want you to do something for me, Alex.”

Alex could only nod. He’d been touching himself while thinking of Yassen for weeks now. Whatever he could get, he’d take it.

“Get on your knees.”

The floor of the trailer was wooden. It wouldn’t be pleasant. Alex still didn’t hesitate when he slid of the couch to kneel between Yassen’s legs. There was a hand in his hair, gently pulling him in. Yassen’s eyes met his, and the icy blue seemed warmer now. Yassen was wearing dark trousers and a button down. Alex carefully reached for his belt, and when he wasn’t stopped, opened it. It was him who felt flattered this time, realizing that Yassen was already half-hard.

“You’re pretty on your knees, Alex.”

The words made him shiver. Alex was just as excited as Yassen, and so far, the only thing he’d gotten was a hand on his face and the order to kneel. He filed that particular info away for later.

“Thank you,” he replied, voice husky. Something clicked into place between them then, and Yassen gave him an indulgent smile.

“You’re welcome, doll. Now get to work.”

Feeling hot all over and shivering, Alex obeyed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did I say...about humor only...
> 
> You are welcome to scream at me in the comments :D


	3. The Press Tour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're in full on crack territory now and I regret nothing! :D

The rest of the shoot was easier on Alex, now that he didn’t have to hide his feelings from Yassen. Just like Yassen had said, he was a demanding scene partner – both in front of the camera, and in bed. Alex found out a lot of things about himself. First of all, he was a much better actor than he’d given himself credit for. Secondly, he enjoyed being on his knees for Yassen a hell of a lot more than he’d ever thought possible.

He was under no illusions that what they were doing would continue past their work on this movie, but for now, that was fine. Yassen was gentle with him in bed, and a good co-star outside of it. Alex had nothing to complain about. He dreaded the day they would be done filming, though.

“Have you ever done this with someone before?”, Yassen asked him one night, when Alex was lying next to him in bed.

Alex was still panting, so he merely shook his head.

“I thought you had, you know. Your body language and how easily you followed orders…I took it as a sign that you had some experience with all of this.”

Alex came to lie on his side so he could look at Yassen. The man was unfairly beautiful, really. Alex highly doubted his skin would look anything like that in twenty years. It didn’t even look that good now.

“I wanted to try something like this for a while. But being closeted and all…”

Alex trailed off, but Yassen gave an understanding nod. They were in the same boat in that regard.

“I get it.”

Yassen reached out, softly caressing Alex’s shoulders, nudging him to lay down on his front.

“I’m not sure I’m up for round two,” Alex murmured, although he laid down as prompted.

Yassen chuckled, it sounded soft and pleasant.

“Don’t worry, I just realized how tense you are. I’ll give you a massage, no happy ending.”

Alex relaxed under his touch and let Yassen do as he wanted. He had indeed been tense, and the massage really did help.

The end of filming did not come as a surprise – the whole shoot had been planned precisely, and Yassen’s goodbye was polite but short. Almost professional.

They wouldn’t see each other for a while until the promo tour started. Yassen, unlike Alex, had no interest in being interviewed by Youtubers and such. He did the important talk shows, and that was it. Yassen didn’t use twitter either. The idea was therefore that Alex was going to do some additional interviews and use his twitter to promote the movie, while Yassen would only be there for the most important late shows. Alex had to admit that while he didn’t hate promo, he understood why Yassen stayed out of a lot of it. There was only so much cringe you could bear from overenthusiastic youtubers. And Yassen had no patience for incompetence.

Alex started his twitter campaign rather simple.

**_@OGAlexRider_ **

_Next movie will be a completely new direction! I had the chance to work with one of the most talented actors I’ve ever met (and he has the Oscars to prove it!) Tune in for the first trailer next week!_

**_@ARARMY_ ** _Omg people!! The hype is REAL! New ALEX RIDER MOVIE is coming!_

 **_@CaliforniaGirl_ ** _I hope he takes his shirt off more than five times. That’s about what it took to get me through the dumb dialogue of his last movie._

 **_@Sk8erBoy @CaliforniaGirl_ ** _Hey you wanna be film critic, calm down! Watch a porno if you need it that badly. I hope there will be explosions!_

 **_@furryclaws_ ** _LoL Rider really said “has Oscars” as if anyone gives a fuck about the Academy anymore! lmaaooo_

Scrolling through the responses, Alex couldn’t help but chuckle. His fans were in for a surprise. But he was so sure that Yassen and him had done outstanding work, he wasn’t worried. Besides, those were far from the worst things he’d ever read about himself on twitter.

When the trailer came out, the reactions were – as anticipated – positive in general, but a mixed bag among Alex’s fanbase. Overall, people were curious about Yassen’s next movie, especially critics, but younger people didn’t know Yassen that well and were rather confused Alex was going to be starring in a political drama.

**_@ARARMY_ ** _My god @ the Gregorovich guy trying to make a point about the current state of things. OK, boomer!_

 **_@RiderStan_ ** _OMG Alex is trying to do serious movies. I mean, I enjoyed the big colorful blockbusters but I’m sure he’ll do just fine!_

 **_@WinWinWin_ ** _The movie looks like they’re trying to appeal to critics and the 40+ audience. On the fence about it all._

 **_@ThatStudentLife_ ** _Who’s this Gregorovich guy? I had to look him up on Wikipedia and apparently, he has two Oscars - why have I never heard of him? He looks kinda old, too._

Alex furrowed his brow at the last tweet. Yassen was an amazing actor, and he knew that his younger fans would be able to recognize that, too. Although he doubted anyone under sixteen would be interested in the movie, which was fine – it was made with an adult audience in mind.

Their first big appearance together was on The Late Show with Simon Nolbert.

“And our guests for tonight – two time Academy Award winning actor Yassen Gregorovich, and his co-star Alex Rider who could barely enter the building because of the scores of screaming fangirls waiting around the building! Why do I never get a greeting like this? Anyway – here they are!”

There was enthusiastic applause, and Yassen and Alex made their way to the chairs next to Nolbert’s own seat. Yassen took the one closer to him, and Alex was happy that he did. Promo over twitter and with Youtubers had the nice benefit that there wasn’t a life audience of millions of people. He wasn’t nervous, but he did certainly feel the pressure.

“Happy to have you,” Nolbert said.

Yassen gave a slight nod, his smile - as Alex knew from working with him and sleeping with him – fake but looking perfect.

“It’s good to be here.”

“My pleasure,” Alex said, giving a smile of his own.

“So, you two in a movie together. I wouldn’t have foreseen that.”

It was Yassen who answered.

“Alex was by far the most talented actor who came to our casting. I was impressed with his skills.”

Alex felt himself go hot all over. He loved to be praised by Yassen – he just hadn’t thought this would extend to comments about his acting on public television. But of course it did.

Nolbert chuckled. “So Alex, how was it to make a movie without a single action scene?”

“Well, it was a new experience, as everyone here knows,” Alex started, making fun of himself before Nolbert could, hearing fond laughter from the audience, “but it was intense. We worked a lot, my character was a lot more complex than others I’ve played, and I had to try and hold my own against Yassen. Which really spurned me on to do my best.”

Yassen made a little gesture as if waving away the compliment, but Nolbert honed in on it.

“You two seem to have become fast friends.”

“Well we did just spend a couple months working twelve hours a day together,” Alex joked.

Nolbert nodded.

“Moving on – there has already been some attention paid to the movie on twitter, your followers seem to be excited.”

Alex gave a little nod. “I really hope my fans will enjoy this new direction.”

Then Nolbert turned to Yassen. “You know, twitter is this social media service where people can send short messages…”

He trailed off as the audience laughed. Yassen raised an eyebrow at Nolbert.

“I’m aware of how twitter works.”

The audience went quiet, a bit of tension in the room. Nolbert tried to soothe it by pointing out he was more in Yassen’s age than in Alex’s. (Was in fact older than Yassen.)

“I’m not using it either. It’s kind of bothersome, having to keep strangers up to date about your life. “Oh, this is what I’m having for dinner tonight.” And stuff like that, to grab attention. Really unnecessary, don’t you think?”

Yassen wasn’t having it, and Alex knew before he started speaking that he wouldn’t just agree and sit quietly.

“I entered the business more than twenty years ago. Younger colleagues are using different ways to connect with fans and promote their movies, and I don’t see any issue with them using social media to that purpose.”

Alex couldn’t help but grin. A bit too stilted to be called a clapback, but the kind of answer that had a few younger audience members clapping in agreement.

From then on, Nolbert took a step back. The interview was mostly friendly and flowed well, until they played a scene from the movie – the one where Charles came out to Matt. It introduced the most tension to the movie and was in the trailer, and Alex just knew there’d be questions about playing gay. Had known it from the very beginning. Luckily, they would be aimed primarily at Yassen.

“This scene – my god – gives me goosebumps. As if the stakes weren’t high enough with a presidential election looming on the horizon, now this. I think, Yassen, that you and Gabriella Whitford, the director, spent some time with the writers to make sure the movie was exactly what you wanted.”

Yassen nodded. “Yes, we wanted to get into a few topics that matter. There’s the issue of sexual assault allegations, and how often they are treated as if someone made them up, or that even credible allegations aren’t taken seriously. Tied into that is the topic of homosexuality, which is more accepted now than ever before, but it still leads to discrimination, leads to people being reduced to just their sexuality. We’re not trying to solve those problems in the movie, but the themes were important to us.”

Nolbert nodded.

“Was it hard? Playing gay? All your characters have been straight until now, and I guess it’s a very different, maybe even…alien way of experiencing the world, for you as a straight man.”

Yassen shook his head. His tone was bordering on condescending. “I once played a man who was the chosen avatar of a god, losing his humanity more and more and becoming essentially divine. That’s what I would call an alien way of experiencing the world. Not being gay.”

A small moment of silence unfolded within the studio, before Yassen finished with “So no, I didn’t find it hard.”

Alex would have rolled his eyes at Yassen’s dramatic timing if what he said hadn’t spoken to him so much. Nolbert assumed both men opposite to him were straight, when neither of them was.

A few audience members were whistling and clapping.

After that, Nolbert stuck to his script and they wrapped the interview up without any other problems.

As they left, Alex checked his twitter feed. He couldn’t stop grinning, and when Yassen raised a questioning eyebrow at him, he handed the phone over.

**_@ARARMY_ ** _Holy shit have y’all seen that interview? I’m talking back all my previous “OK Boomer” tweets aimed at Gregorovich. He’s a good boomer!_

 **_@RiderStan_ ** _Oh my god Alex looked amazing but seriously…that Gregorovich guy could get it, too._

 **_@CaliforniaGirl_ ** _Looks like there won’t be much shirtless Alex…sigh…_

 **_@GayAndOkay_ ** _A middle aged straight guy putting that stupid interviewer in his place like that? “Being gay is not an alien way of experiencing the world” – that’s damn right. Gonna check out Gregorovich’s other movies, too._

 **_@ThatStudentLife_ ** _Jumping on that “sorry I talked shit about Gregorovich” train. The man seems totally decent!_

 **_@SlashFan69_ ** _Okay but the chemistry between them? They totally fucked!_

 **_@ARARMY @SlashFan69_ ** _Hey shipping real life people isn’t cool. Just because their characters had chemistry didn’t mean they do, they’re just good friends who get along well._

The last one made Yassen crack up.

“You coming to my place?” He asked as if to spite Alex’s biggest fan account.

Alex was surprised for a moment.

“You mean it?”

They were in a private room, they could talk. But outside the door, people were passing and talking.

“If you want to, yes. I like you, Alex. We can figure out where we stand with this, and what we want to do with it. You are free to decide however you wish, but I am interested in you.”

Alex took a deep breath. They could take their time. Figure it out. Whether they wanted this to become something long-term or not. Alex could take his time figuring out if he wanted to come out.

He nodded.

“That sounds good. Let’s go.”

* * *

**_@ARARMY_ ** _OMG ALEX IS NOMINATED FOR AN OSCAR; YASSEN IS TOO_

 **_@CaliforniaGirl_ ** _I am so shook Rider can act I am floored. He held my attention without taking his shirt off once who would have guessed I think I need to lay down_

 **_@ThatStudentLife_ ** _Omg I love studying politics I adore my major and political dramas are the reason why!! I hope Yalex win their Oscar!_

 **_@SlashFan69_ ** _I’m totally stealing Yalex as their ship name, look at how cute they are! How protective Yassen puts his arm around Alex! #Goals_

 **_@ARARMY @SlashFan69_ ** _Please stop this what if they see your tweets. They are just friends. You’re so embarrassing_

 **_@SlashFan69 @ARARMY_ ** _Omg calm your tits I’m not @ing them or anything I’m just saying. I’d never ask them directly my god fandom etiquette, anyone???_

* * *

**_@ThatStudentLife_ ** _I mean. Okay. Gregorovich deserved that Oscar. Alex is young, he has time_

 **_@ARARMY_ ** _Next time, @OGAlexRider. We believe in you._

 **_@furryclaws_ ** _Can we please stop acting as if the Academy is still relevant my god people what is it, the 80s?_

 **_@SlashFan69 @ARARMY_ ** _See this picture of them kissing? On the red carpet? Holding hands? Remember when you said they were just friends? Straight people. Honestly._

 **_@ARARMY @SlashFan69_ ** _Yeah okay okay. I take it back. You win._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please do yell at me in the comments. Especially about the twitter users and their handles :D


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